The Right Way to Live
by lovetolaugh294
Summary: FINISHED The usual "there's a girl at camp green lake" tale, but did she do the crime she was imprisoned for?
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE  
  
It was the first time she had ever truly felt alone.   
  
Carrie knew she wasn't popular. Sure, she'd had her fair share of boyfriends and had a ton of great friends, but she had the same amount of enimies.  
  
It was funny how life confused you like that.  
  
She was on the bus to Camp Green Lake. As she thought about her lonlieness, handcuffs gripping into her skin, she realized that she was trembling. She quickly attempted to calm herself while trying to move into a more comfortable position. That was hard, considering her hands were attached to the seat in front of her. Her long brown hair was sticking to the back of her neck in the sweltering heat.   
  
'Good thing I remembered to bring a hair tie,' She thought to herself, sighing. The security guard sitting at the front of the bus gave her a sharp glance, making Carrie wonder if sighing was illegal at this new camp.   
  
She looked out the window of the dusty school bus and was surprised to see the ground surrounding the dirt path was filled with holes. 'What kinda of a camp is this?' She wondered silently.   
  
At the end of the long dirt path, Carrie saw what seemed to be a mirage. There was a green patch of land with a few carefully placed trees. She blinked a few times and realized that it wasn't a mirage. They were finally reaching their destination.  
  
The bus pulled up in front of a few rickity wooden buildings and some tents. Carrie sighed with relief as the guard unlocked her handcuffs, then quickly silenced herself, not wanting to earn another glare. She gathered her bag and headed out of the bus.   
  
That was when she realized:  
  
It was an all boys camp.  
  
Oh, crud. 


	2. The Beginning

CHAPTER 1  
  
The beginning  
  
Carrie quickly crossed her arms over her chest, slouching slightly over, and trying to become unnoticed.  
  
No such luck.  
  
"Hey, look! They let a girl in!" Someone yelled.   
  
"Finally! I haven't looked at a girl for so long!" Someone else yelled.  
  
"And this one's a cute one! Look at how adorable she is! Aww..." Carrie felt like punching the person who said the last comment, but she pretended not to notice these comments that were flying through the air like flies.   
  
She was lead into the nearest building and sat down into a chair. There was a man sitting at a desk, smoking a cigarette.   
  
"I thought you gave up smoking," The security guard asked in amazement.   
  
"I thought so too," The man replied, putting the cigarette into an ashtray sitting on the desk. "So, Carrie, welcome to Camp Green Lake."  
  
"Thanks..." She replied apprehensively.   
  
"My name is Mr. Sir. You will call me by my name. Can I see your bag?" Carrie managed to keep a straight face and handed her bag to Mr. Sir, wondering what his real name was. He carefully glanced through her bag and handed it back to Carrie.   
  
"Follow me," Mr. Sir lead Carrie into another room. This room was filled with orange jumpsuits that made Carrie cringe. She refrained from actually speaking up when he handed two to her. "These are your uniform while you are here. One is for relaxation and one is for work. Every week, your work clothes will be washed and your relaxation set become your work clothes. Understand?"  
  
"Yes, Mr. Sir," Carrie responded, holding back a sound of disgust. Wearing the same clothes for a week?  
  
"You get one 4 minute shower ever two days. I would recommend that you shower extremely early in the morning or late at night." He didn't have to say why. "You will be in D-Tent. That's the fourth tent from here." Mr. Sir lead her outside, then pointed her in the direction of her tent. She took a few tentative steps, being sure to keep her gaze on the ground. When she reached the tent, she opened the flap and stepped inside.   
  
Luckily there was no one inside. Carrie walked over to the only obviously available crate and cot. She sat on the edge of the cot and put her few posessions inside the crate. She sat, staring at the tent walls, not really seeing them as tears blurred her eyes.   
  
Suddenly, 2 boys walked into the tent. They were laughing about something, but their laughter immediately stopped when they saw here. The boy with the crazy blonde hair openly stared, while the heavier black boy just glanced at her from time to time.   
  
"Are you a mirage?" Crazy-hair asked her, still staring.   
  
"No," She giggled, wiping away tears. "I'm Carrie."   
  
"I'm Armpit. And this is Zigzag," The African-American boy introduced.   
  
"Hi," She smiled. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad. If Zigzag ever stopped staring.   
  
"When did you get here?" Armpit asked.   
  
"Just a few minutes ago., Carrie glanced over at Zigzag. "Is your friend alright?"  
  
"Zig, snap out of it," Armpit elbowed him and he seemed to jump out of his stupor.   
  
"Wow, I'm sorry," He smiled appologetically. He really had a nice smile, which Carrie noticed immediately.  
  
"So how old are you guys?" Carrie inquired.  
  
"I'm 18 and Pit is 16," Zigzag replied. "How about you?"   
  
"I'm 16," She answered. The two boys sat down on cots, most likely their own.   
  
"Do you want me to show you around a little?" Zigzag asked, obviously wanting an excuse to make sure that he really wasn't hallucinating. For some reason, Carrie found herself not minding.   
  
"Sure." She stood up and followed him out of the tent. Armpit stayed behind.   
  
As soon as she set foot outside of the tent again, boys were flocking around. "Hey, babe, what's your name?" Someone asked. Carrie didn't see who.  
  
"Guys, move on, she's a chick, not a circus show." Zigzag pushed his way through the crowd, holding on to Carrie's hand. They boys dispersed, grumbling about Zigzag ruining their fun.  
  
"Sorry about that," He appologized.  
  
"It's not your fault," She responded. Carrie noticed that he didn't let go of her hand right away.  
  
And for some reason, she found that she didn't mind that either. 


	3. Explanations

CHAPTER 2  
  
Explanations  
  
"So this is Camp Green Lake." Carrie laughed, looking out at her dry, barren surroundings.  
  
"Not as green as it sounds," Zigzag commented. The two of them were sitting on the edge of the camp, talking and laughing. There was a short pause in their conversation, and Zigzag spoke up.  
  
"So why are you here anyways?" He asked Carrie, trying to look her in the eye.  
  
Carrie looked away. "I don't remember." she whispered.  
  
"How can you not remember?" He asked with a laugh, thinking she was joking. When he saw the serious look on her face, he stopped.  
  
Carrie thought about that night, trying to remember, but forgetting the end of her story after about her fourth drink. She began to voice the story to Zigzag, bringing herself back to that night.  
  
_________________________________________________________________________  
  
Carrie stood in front of the mirror, checking a third time to makes sure her spaghetti strapped black dress wasn't too low cut, too tight, showing too much leg. As she had found the first two times, it wasn't.  
  
She fluffed out her hair and made sure that the brown eyeliner circling her brown eyes wasn't smudged.  
  
Finally, the doorbell rang.  
  
"Mom! I'm going out with Jason!" She yelled up the stairs, grabbing her purse and black jacket. She opened the door to her smiling boyfriend.  
  
"You look great!" He complimented. "These are for you." He held out a dozen red roses.  
  
"Thanks!" She took the flowers and set them on a side table. Jason took her arm and led her out to his silver Z3.  
  
They drove to Jason's best friend's party. He helped her out of the car, then watched her inside. The thumping music energized her.  
  
"Come on! Let's dance!" Carrie pulled on Jason's arm, but he stopped her.  
  
"No, let's get something to drink first." He led Carrie over to the bar and ordered a couple of beers. Carrie tentatively took a sip, not wanting to upset her boyfriend by turning down the alchohol. The liquid burned the back of her throat.  
  
After she finished her first drink, Jason bought her three more, and Carrie drank them all, afraid of her now drunk boyfriend. He seemed to want to touch her more and Carrie's intoxiated mind didn't know enough to tell him to stop.  
  
All Carrie remembered after that drink was waking up, abandoned on the cold, hard floor of the kitchen, and cops bursting into the front food.  
  
__________________________________________________________________________  
  
Carrie came back from the past and found herself staring into Zigzag's blue eyes.  
  
"So you really don't know what you're charged for?" He asked with wide eyes.  
  
"No. Well, I was charged for underage intoxication and drug usage, along with unprovoked violence. I don't remember the drugs, or the violence, but there were witnesses at the trial who said I did both." Carrie explained.  
  
"Wow..." Zigzag seemed slightly confused. Carrie smiled and opened her mouth to ask him something, anything about himself, when a trumpet sounded.  
  
"Hey, time for dinner." Zigzag commented. Carrie jumped up and brushed the dry dirt off of the ugly orange jumpsuit.  
  
"So is the food good here or what?" Carrie grinned.  
  
"You'd find better food in a pig pen." He groaned.  
  
Carrie laughed. As they walked towards the mess hall, ther heart began to pound as she remembered the earlier episode.  
  
Zigzag opened the doors for her and she stepped inside. 


	4. Remember?

CHAPTER 3  
  
Remember?  
  
Carrie glanced around the room, waiting for the first cat calls to erupt, but none came. Her and Zigzag got into the food line. Carrie noticed with disgust that Zagzag's description of the food had been pretty accurate.  
  
Zigzag lead her over to a table where 5 other boys and Armpit were sitting. Carrie shyly sat between Armpit and Zigzag, amidst the stares from the other boys.  
  
"Hey Carrie. Yo, guys, this is Carrie," Armpit introduced. "This is X- ray-"he pointed to an African-America boy with thick, dirty glasses. "Squid-"he pointed to a tall boy with thick, dark hair partially hidden under a bandana and baseball cap. 'He's cute!' Carrie noted with glee. "Magnet-"he pointed to a hispanic boy with big ears. "Twitch-"he pointed to a skinny boy with a twitching eye. "And Zero." The last boy was tiny, with a dark afro and dark skin.  
  
The boy called Squid was the first to snap out of his stupor. "Hey," he greeted with a wave.  
  
"Hola Chica," was the next greeting from Magnet. The other boys gave quick greetings, then went back to their food. Zero didn't bother to even acknowledge her existence.  
  
Over the dinner of "Mashed Potatoes" and "refried beans", the 6 boys discussed regular "getting to know you" topics with Carrie. Zero just continues eating his food. Zigzag, of course, knew everything that they were discussing, and kept mostly quiet throughout the whole meal.  
  
But that might not have been the only reason.  
  
Carrie knew that she was flirting with all of the boys. She knew, but couldn't help it. She wasn't used to all of the attention and was enjoying being the center of it. But every once in a while, Carrie would glance over at Zigzag and see a look of pure jealousy spreading across every one of his features.  
  
'I wonder why,' Carrie thought. 'Maybe he was enjoying all the attention I was giving him. Or maybe he likes me.' Carrie quickly pushed that thought out of her mind. 'Don't be stupid! You've known the guy for less than 12 hours.'  
  
She finally tuned her mind back into the conversation.  
  
"So, Carrie," X-ray began with a mischievous glint in his eye. "What's the weirdest thing people call you?"  
  
"Care bear," she promptly responded. "Or sometimes just bear, because I they say I remind them of an overgrown teddy bear."  
  
"Bear it is," X-ray said with a toothy grin.  
  
The boys immediately burst into laughter.  
  
"What?" Carrie asked. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"It's what we're going to call you. Bear." Squid replied, wiping tears from his eyes.  
  
"Did you actually think these were our real names?" Twitch asked with wide, twitching eyes.  
  
"Well, I thought it would be rude to ask..." Carrie grinned sheepishly. "What can I say? I should have been born blonde."  
  
"I can see that," X-ray responded. "What are you in here for, anyways?"  
  
Carrie went silent and looked at the table. Zigzag gave X-ray a death glare before changing the subject. "Ready to go dig tomorrow, Carrie?"  
  
Carrie looked back up, the sparkle returning to her eyes. "Well, sure. I have decent upper body strength and I did a lot of yard work back home."  
  
Zero looked at her but said nothing. Carrie was beginning to wonder if he ever spoke.  
  
"This'll be interesting," Twitch said, standing up and leaving his tray.  
  
"What will?" Carrie asked.  
  
"Seeing you dig," He replied with an evil grin.  
  
Carrie laughed and began walking towards the tent with him. Suddenly, she froze, clutching her head. A vision sliced into her mind.  
  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
A large, buff boy was advancing on Carrie with a baseball bat. She laughed, not knowing why, or even what was going on. Suddenly, she realized the seriousness of the situation and tried to run, still laughing. She felt a crack as the bat hit her head and felt a sharp pain in the back of her skull. She fell to the ground.  
  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
"Hey, Carrie? Are you ok?" Twitch asked, concerned.  
  
"I'm great." Carrie smiled. Her head was still throbbing and she wasn't sure what exactly she had witnessed, but she didn't give it another thought. 


	5. Discussions

CHAPTER 4  
  
Discussion  
  
Later that night, Carrie attempted to sleep on the musty smelling cot. She flipped over onto her other side, opening her eyes to see she was facing Zero. That was when she realized that she wasn't the only one affected by insomnia.  
  
"Hey, you guys asleep?" asked a voice sounding like X-ray's.  
  
A few exhausted groans responded.  
  
"How about Bear?"  
  
Carrie hurriedly shut hr eyes and struggled to make her breathing even. She heard footsteps stomping lazily across the tent, felt the presence of someone standing above her, and then heard him stomp back to his cot.  
  
"She's asleep," Squid drawled with a yawn.  
  
"Good." X-ray paused for a moment. "So, what do you guys think?"  
  
All 6 boys began to talk at once.  
  
"Man! For not seeing a girl in so long she sure is a sight for sore eyes," Armpit stated.  
  
"She's so hot! I was almost sure I was drooling!" Magnet said in his Hispanic accent.  
  
"She's not only hot, she's smart... funny... I think I'm falling for her!" Squid laughed.  
  
"Well, hey, that makes two of us," Twitch whispered. Carrie was pretty sure that she was the only one who heard him.  
  
"Dude, you guys are pathetic," X-ray laughed.  
  
"Hey! Not me! She's cute, great funny, sweet, but I have no romantic interest in her... yet." Zigzag protested.  
  
"Hey, why don't we go to sleep? We gotta dig tomorrow. "Armpit stopped the conversation. Carrie sighed, silently agreeing with Armpit.  
  
"Whatever. 'Night." Twitch said.  
  
Carrie laughed to herself. Guys were such idiots. She looked up at Zero and looked into his eyes. She was surprised to find tears.  
  
"It's OK," She whispered, grabbing his hand. She didn't know why, but she felt very protective of this quiet boy. "It's gonna be OK."  
  
He gave her a tentative smile, which Carrie returned. Carrie didn't bother to ask why he was crying. She knew it wasn't any of her business, and she knew she was doing what she could, lying there, listening to him cry, and holding his hand through it all. 


	6. Firsts

CHAPTER 5  
  
Firsts  
  
At exactly 4 o'clock AM, a bugle sounded. Carrie lazily lifted her head from her pillow, and then let it drop back down again.  
  
"Come on, Bear, wake up!" Squid shook her gently. "We have to go." Squid pulled off the thin covers on the cot. This resulted in two things: Carrie hopping out of bed, and her becoming very angry with him.  
  
D-tent lined up for breakfast, then to grab their shovels. Carrie grabbed a shovel with a piece of red tape around the wooden section. As she began to walk away, she felt a light tap on her shoulder.  
  
"Hey, Bear? That's kinda the shovel I use every day. Would you mind trading?" X-ray asked politely.  
  
"No problem." The two quickly swapped shovels while the rest of D- tent looked on in amazement.  
  
"You got X-ray to ask for the shovel!" Magnet gasped.  
  
"For once he didn't just, like, grab it out of your hands!" Twitch commented.  
  
"That's the first time that's ever happened!" Squid exclaimed.  
  
"So? Get going guys, nothing to see here," X-ray ordered, with a touch of his usual leader tone. He gave Carrie a quick smile after the other boys had left.  
  
The camp walked out to the dry lake and found their spots. As Mr. Sir explained the details of digging, the rest of the boys started their hole.  
  
"You are to make one hole, 5 feet wide and 5 feet deep. If you find anything, show it to Mr. Pendanski or me, and you could possibly get the day off." He explained.  
  
"Yes, Mr. Sir," Carrie said, sticking her shovel into the dry earth. She could already feel the pain of the wooden shovel against her bare hands.  
  
To ease her pain, she talked to the boys while she dug.  
  
"So, we get to do this every day?" She asked.  
  
"Yep," Armpit responded.  
  
"It sucks," Magnet commented.  
  
"I can already tell. But you boys are so lucky." She complained.  
  
"Why?" Squid asked.  
  
"You don't have all of this hair," She laughed, flipping her ponytail to accentuate her point.  
  
They all dug deep into the day. First, Zero finished and spat into his hole. Carrie stared up at him in amazement. "You're done already?"  
  
"Zero's the fastest digger in camp!" Twitch informed her.  
  
"That's so awesome," She said, inspecting the red blisters sprouting up on her hand.  
  
Carrie expected Zero to walk back to camp, but he hopped into her hole and began to dig.  
  
"Zero? What're you doing?" Carrie asked, already worn out from digging.  
  
"Helping you," were the words that the boy of few words chose to speak. Their eyes met and both continued to dig.  
  
With Zero's help, Carrie's hole was finished around the same time as Squid's. She gave Zero a bear hug and began to walk back to camp with him, dragging her shovel behind her.  
  
They returned to camp and Carrie headed for the wreck room. She collapsed onto the armchair nearest the pool table, where the boys of D- tent were playing pool.  
  
"I think I have the world's biggest blisters," She commented, half to herself and half to anyone who was listening.  
  
"Let me see." Twitch leaned down and grabbed her hand. "Nah, just pretty close. Mine almost matched that on my first day here."  
  
"You're kidding! Good thing, or else I'd have to kill you for all the pain I'm in." She leaned back, sighing.  
  
Twitch glanced around, obviously making sure no one was listening. "Look, I've got some Neosporin back in the tent. Do you want it?"  
  
Carrie kept herself from screaming. "Yes! How'd you get it?"  
  
"Magnet swiped it from the Warden and I swiped it from Magnet. Come on." I quickly followed Twitch back to D-tent and watched as he unearthed a bottle of Neosporin from his messy crate.  
  
"I'm going to need to go through our tent and organize these crates. How can you live in that pig pen?" Carrie complained.  
  
"You're a girl. That's your problem." He grinned. "Let me see your hands."  
  
Carrie put out her hands and he took them. "Tell me if it burns, OK?" He silently rubbed the tonic over her blisters. She sighed in relief. It felt so good.  
  
When Twitch finished both hands, he looked into her eyes. Carrie could feel it happening as he leaned toward her. Finally, their lips met, only for a split second. He jumped back, muttered an apology, and ran out of the tent.  
  
Carrie sighed. "Boys..." she muttered, turning to her crate for a second. Something caught her eye at the bottom, something that hadn't been there before. She slowly picked it up and turned it over. It was a small piece of paper with some writing on it.  
  
She quietly read it to herself. "Things I love about Carrie. Her sense of humor, her hair, her eyes, her personality, her friendliness, her lovingness. Carrie + Me forever."  
  
The note wasn't signed. Somehow, Carrie had a feeling who had written it.  
  
And it wasn't the boy who had kissed her that day. 


	7. Flashback

CHAPTER 6  
  
Flashback  
  
That night, Carrie sat on her cot, thinking about the night that had sentenced her to 12 months in Camp Green Lake. She tried as hard as she could to remember, but no images came to mind. She remembered her earlier vision, but couldn't remember when that had happened, or what it had to do with anything.  
  
She also remembered the splitting headache that had occurred at the same time. Carrie rubbed her head, unintentionally causing her blistered fingers to burn. As she looked at her hands, she seemed to remember something. It sliced into her mind and left as quickly as it had come.  
  
____________________________________________________________________  
  
Carrie glanced up at her boyfriend, who was just as drunk as she was. He staggered toward her.  
  
"What are you doing?" He asked.  
  
Carrie glanced at the boy whose lap she was sitting on. He looked oddly familiar. "Kissing. Do you mind?"  
  
"Mind? Why would I mind? You're just my girlfriend!" He stammered.  
  
"Well, not anymore." Carrie turned back to the boy and kissed him on the neck.  
  
"Get off!" Jason screamed. He pulled Carrie off the boy's lap and punched him in the face.  
  
"Jason!" Carrie screamed. "What are you doing?" Suddenly angry, she pulled him up to her eye level and punched him in the stomach.  
  
Carrie froze. She looked at her hands, not quite believing what she had just done.  
  
___________________________________________________________________  
  
Carrie gasped. If that vision was true, then it WAS true. She HAD started the fight. She laughed hysterically inside her mind.  
  
"Good little Carrie Brown, in a boys correctional camp, charged for 3 crimes and guilty of 2." Carrie whispered gleefully. She realized how insane she sounded and sobered up almost immediately.  
  
"I'm such an idiot. Why did I do that? Why did I go on that date? Why?" Carrie groaned into her pillow. Tears began to fall down her cheeks. She felt a hand on her back.  
  
"Do you want to go outside and talk?" It was Zigzag.  
  
"Yea, I do." Carrie stood up, wiping her eyes. She followed Zigzag outside of the tent and sat down on the ledge near the showers.  
  
"So, what's wrong?" He asked. It was a simple question, and Zigzag was probably expecting a simple answer. What he got was an explanation.  
  
"I think I'm going crazy." She sobbed. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm getting these visions or hallucinations or something, and I don't know if they're true or if I'm trying to fill in the blanks of my conviction with my imagination."  
  
"Wow, slow down. You had visions about that party?" Zigzag asked, his eyes wide.  
  
"Yea." Carrie replied, regaining her composure.  
  
"Well, what do you remember?" He prompted.  
  
"Well..." Carrie went on to explain the details, trying to come across as a completely sane person.  
  
"Dude, that's crazy." Carrie noticed that Zigzag didn't look into her eyes when he said this.  
  
"What's up with you? You've barely looked at me once out here." She tried to look into his eyes, but he looked away.  
  
"Oh, it's nothing. I'm tired. I'd better get back to sleep. Goodnight." He quickly got up and ran back into the tent. Carrie stared at his retreating back and willed him to return, but he didn't.  
  
She couldn't believe it. Was it? It couldn't be. Carrie refused to believe it. But something inside her told her that it was true.  
  
Had Zigzag written the note? 


	8. Time Goes By

CHAPTER 7  
  
Time Goes By  
  
Carrie slowly began to slip into the Camp Green Lake routine, month by month. Every morning, she woke up, dug her hole, and headed back to the wreck room to play a game of pool with the D-tent boys. The blisters on her hands slowly began to turn into calluses. For a month after he kissed her, Twitch wouldn't look her in the eyes. Finally, after a particularly depressing game of pool, Carrie was able to talk to him.  
  
"Hey!" She greeted, running behind him.  
  
"Oh, hi Bear." He avoided her eyes. At that moment, something in Carrie snapped.  
  
"Why won't you even look at me anymore?" She yelled. Twitch looked at his feet. "I really liked you for a while. Well, I thought I did. But you won't even talk to me. I still want to be your friend." Carrie stopped and watched his reaction. For the first time in a month, he looked into her eyes. He leaned in and gave Carrie a big hug.  
  
"I want to be your friend too." Carrie smiled. Finally, things were set straight.  
  
The months wore on, until finally, Carrie had been there for 6. The friendships had grown and Carrie felt connected to the boys in very different ways. Zigzag listened to her whenever she needed to talk. X-Ray, Squid, and Magnet were her pool challengers. Twitch was the person she went to when she needed a hug. Zero was the person she went to when she needed silence.  
  
The note she had received remained in the bottom of her crate throughout those 6 months. She didn't have the courage to ask Zigzag if he had written it, but she wasn't sure who else to ask.  
  
And so time went by as if nothing was different at all. Carrie couldn't remember anything else about the night she was arrested, no matter how hard she tried. 


	9. Pieces of the Puzzle

CHAPTER 8  
  
Pieces of the Puzzle  
  
In the middle of one night, Carrie was shaken awake by Zigzag. "Bear? Bear, wake up!"  
  
Carrie groaned. "What time is it?" she asked.  
  
"I don't know. But I need to talk to you. Get up." He pushed her off of her cot.  
  
Carrie fell to the floor with a loud crash. She stumbled outside of the tent, her thin blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She sat on the log outside of D-tent next to Zigzag, and waited for him to talk.  
  
"I haven't been completely honest with you. I need to tell you something."  
  
Carrie took in a sharp breath. Was Zigzag about to tell her that he had written the note?  
  
"It's kind of hard to say, Bear. But it's about that night at the party." He explained, toeing the ground.  
  
So it wasn't about the note. 'But what is he talking about?' Carrie wondered.  
  
"I know the whole story of that night."  
  
Carrie stared at him, stunned. "How do you know that?" She asked.  
  
"Remember that guy you were making out with?" Zigzag grinned sheepishly. "That was me."  
  
"You're kidding." Carrie was taken completely off guard.  
  
"No. Do you want to know what happened?" He asked.  
  
"Yes. Tell me everything."  
  
"OK." Zigzag began to explain the story, and Carrie began to remember. __________________________________________________________________  
  
Carrie stumble out onto the balcony, leaning over the edge. "It's so pretty," She slurred to the boy next to her. Zigzag.  
  
"It is." He glanced at her. "Are you OK?" he asked, genuinely concerned.  
  
Carrie looked him up and down. "I'm fine. And so are you."  
  
Zigzag winced. Drunken people used the worst pickup lines. "Thanks."  
  
Carrie looked up at him, and kissed him on the mouth. Before either of them knew it, they were on the couch being screamed at by Carrie's boyfriend.  
  
_________________________________________________________________  
  
"I was that stupid?" Carrie exclaimed. "I'm so sorry.  
  
"It's fine. There's nothing you can do about it now." Zigzag sighed. "Then the fight started. Some guy came at you with a baseball bat and knocked you out. I would have gotten you out of there, but I wasn't really supposed to be there in the first place." He hesitated.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well, I was under house arrest until my trial for shoplifting, which was the next day. I snuck out to go to the party and when the police were coming, I had to get out of there. I was sent to Camp Green Lake two days later." Zigzag explained.  
  
Carrie sighed. "Did I do drugs?" she asked.  
  
"No. I know you didn't." Zigzag reassured her.  
  
"Do you know why I can't remember anything?" She asked.  
  
"Probably because of the hit on your head, combined with the alcohol." He guessed.  
  
They sat in silence for a few minutes. "I'm going back to bed." Carrie stood up. Then, she leaned down and gave Zigzag a hug. "Thank you for telling me."  
  
"You're welcome," he replied, hugging her back.  
  
Carrie started to walk away, then spun around, remembering something. "Do you know who wrote me that note?"  
  
Zigzag laughed and Carrie knew that he knew which note she was talking about. "Yea. That was Zero"  
  
Carrie was stunned for the second time that night. She spun around, walked back to the tent and laid back down on the cot.  
  
"Zero? I never saw that one coming," Was he last thought before she drifted back to sleep. 


	10. The Last Song

CHAPTER 9  
  
The Last Song  
  
Carrie knew she was going to have to talk to Zero about that note. She loved Zero like a brother, but nothing more than that. Somehow, she knew it wasn't going to be easy.  
  
She found him lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. She sat down on her bed and began to talk.  
  
"Hey Zero."  
  
"Hey." He responded.  
  
"Listen," She began. "I know. About the note I mean."  
  
Zero looked at her. "You do?"  
  
"Yes." She sighed. "I love you Zero, you know that, but not like you want me to. You're the best. You're like a brother... but nothing more than that to me. I'm sorry."  
  
He didn't say anything for a while. Carrie stood up to walk out of the tent, but was stopped by his voice.  
  
"I'm sorry." He said, looking at her.  
  
"Don't be." She smiled, then walked out of the tent.  
  
Zigzag was standing outside. "Hey."  
  
"Hey yourself."  
  
"How was Zero? About you turning him down and all?" He asked, obviously extremely curious.  
  
"It was fine. He took it quite well." She glanced at him. "How did you know that I was turning him down?"  
  
"I listened." He smiled. "I wanted to know."  
  
Carrie rolled her eyes. "Guys..."  
  
Zigzag rolled his eyes in imitation of Carrie. "Girls..."  
  
They both laughed. Suddenly, Zigzag leaned down and kissed Carrie on the lips. Carrie let herself enjoy the feeling for a moment, but she pushed Zigzag away.  
  
"Zigzag, you're making this tough. I like you, and I'll admit that much, but we're at a work camp for juvenile delinquents. Do you really think that this is the right time for us to be boyfriend and girlfriend?" Carrie said.  
  
"Well, no, but-"  
  
"But nothing. We'll be friends. That's it." Carrie's tone made her words very clear.  
  
"How about friends with benefits?" He asked suggestively.  
  
"No. Nothing. When we get out of camp and you still feel the same way, even with all the Britney Spears look-a-likes you meet in the real world, then we'll talk." Carrie turned and walked toward the wreck room, looking forward to a game of pool. Things were getting to dramatic.  
  
But that was life, right?  
  
Suddenly, the words to a song popped into her head. "This is the last song." Carrie grinned. Finally, she was able to truthfully say that she had hit the final song. 


	11. Epilogue

EPILOGUE  
  
Carrie and Zigzag got out of Camp Green Lake 6 months later. As they lived in the same area, they ended up going to the same school. Zigzag did end up asking Carrie out, but a few months later, Carrie broke it off because Zigzag couldn't keep his eyes off of the girls.  
Carrie reunited with Jason. He seemed to be much worse than he had been when she left. But maybe that was just her change of heart at camp.  
Carrie stayed in touch with all the boys, and ended up marrying Squid. They got divorced 4 years later, on account of the toothpick Squid liked to carry in his mouth.  
Carrie settled down in Texas, near camp, and wrote the story of her time there. And that is how this story came to be. 


End file.
